Irene damage assessments under way in Maine

Tuesday

Aug 30, 2011 at 3:15 AMAug 30, 2011 at 10:42 AM

CLARKE CANFIELD,Associated Press

BUXTON, Maine (AP) — As sunny skies returned to Maine on Monday, the governor surveyed the destruction from Tropical Storm Irene, road and utility crews cleared debris, state officials got busy on damage estimates as a first step toward federal assistance and residents made do as they waited for the power to come back on.

While no deaths were reported in the state from the Sunday storm's powerful winds and flood waters, it was not without some close calls. In Carrabassett Valley, a young woman stranded between the two Route 27 bridges that had washed out from the Carrabassett River's floodwaters was pulled to safety by local rescuers.

Gov. Paul LePage toured that area by helicopter before flying to Phillips and Rumford where roads also were closed because of flooding.

"The damage in some of these areas is devastating, and once we evaluate the financial loss we will see if Maine is eligible for federal disaster assistance," LePage said.

Hundreds of thousands of Mainers were left in the dark — many of them well into Monday — as the storm ripped down trees and power lines. Hundreds of line crews were on the job restoring power to homes and businesses.

Central Maine Power Co. estimated the storm knocked out power to 275,000 customers. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co.'s peak outages during the storm was about 29,000.

By late Monday afternoon, CMP was down to 137,000, and Bangor Hydro's total was below 12,000. CMP officials said it could be several days or longer before everyone's service is restored.

In neighborhoods hardest hit, the sound of chain saws and generators could be heard as people cut up trees and branches and kept their refrigerators and lights going.

Bob Plouffe stopped at a home in Buxton and offered to remove a maple tree that had fallen across the driveway in exchange for the wood. He and his friend, Tim Walsh, cut up the tree and loaded up the logs and branches into a trailer to take away. Walsh plans to burn the wood in his wood stove this winter.

"Free firewood. You can't beat it with the price of heating oil," Walsh said.

William Lanigan was among three homeowners who were trapped when some large pine trees toppled across their dead-end country road, blocking them in. The same thing happened last November, leaving Lanigan without electricity, water, heat, a phone or a way to drive out for five days.

This time, he left his car at his mother's house in Kennebunk and told her to pick him up at the end of the road on Tuesday if she didn't hear from him. Being penned in without electricity or other basics feels like living on a deserted island, he said. But "I lived on Nantucket for 10 years so I guess I'm kind of used to it."

Nearly 200 roads were closed and a dozen bridges due to flooding or fallen trees, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. By Monday afternoon, three bridges — the two in Carrabassett Valley and one along western Maine's Route 113 — remained closed. All but a handful of the roads were reopened, Latti said.

Trees also fell on houses in Monmouth, Lovell and Norway and toppled onto vehicles in several towns.

In Buxton, 11-year-old Aidan Rausch and his 5-year-old sister were getting ready to play Monopoly late Sunday afternoon when they heard a loud crack, looked out the window and saw a huge branch of a maple tree snap off and fall on a chestnut tree, which then fell across their road and brought down some power lines.

The tree and lines were still down Monday, preventing cars from passing through.

"It was pretty awesome, but scary at the same time," Aidan said. "People said they could hear it from the end of the street — super far."

In the nearby town of Waterboro, Little Ossipee Lake churned angrily Sunday as winds whipped up whitecaps in front of Bob Farwell's lakeside house.

"It was like an ocean in a lake," he said. When Farwell's 16-year-old grandson arrived to help Farwell secure his boat in his dock, the wind blew his grandson into the lake as he stepped onto the dock.

"It took me right off my feet," said Ian Farwell, the grandson.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said the tracks were clear enough to resume Amtrak's Downeaster service between Boston and Portland. The state Conservation Department said state parks and historic sites sustained some damage to trees and shorefronts during the storm, but most were reopened Monday.

Mackworth Island at Falmouth and Sebago Lake State Park's campground and day-use area remained closed due to tree damage. Eagle Island State Historic Site also was closed.